Helsinki in 2017

Helsinki in 2017 is a bid to bring the World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon to Helsinki, Finland in 2017. Our proposed time is from Wednesday 9 August to Sunday 13 August, 2017 and our proposed venue is Messukeskus, the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre. In addition to being a Worldcon bid, Helsinki in 2017 is our attempt to bring together European fans of science fiction and fantasy, and to connect all of us together as Worldcon fans.

Europe is full of fannish activity, but we lack cohesion; we lack a collective that we might all call our own. In other words, while there are many national fandoms, there is no truly European fandom. Our little project is about fixing that, by bringing together these separate groups, and introducing them to fandom at large. We want Worldcon fandom to be truly international, and we believe the way to do that is to bring Worldcon to Europe more than once or twice a decade.

We believe in Worldcon; we believe in its scope and format. If those were to change too much or too fast, the world would soon have a Worldcon-shaped hole in it. But we do want to add to its membership, and its reach, by giving European fans a chance to join this community. We also believe Nordic and Finnish fandom in particular has a lot to show to the rest of the world, and we'd very much like the opportunity to shine. And the right place and time for that is Helsinki in 2017.

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